Plywood lamp base

This was our first time building a wooden lamp base and it turned out better than we imagined. If you would like to make your own follow along and see how easy it is to build.

First things first, you will need to decide on the lamp shade. We picked this one up for $25 and it helped determine the size of the lamp base. This particular shade measures 10 inches high and the bottom is 15 inches across. From there we determined the width of the base should be approximately 6 1/2 inches.

Cutting the circles with a router

We used the router to cut out 14 circles from 3/4 inch plywood. After the circles were cut we sanded the edges by hand just to get rid of any fuzzies and this is what we were left with.

stack of plywood discs

We used the drill press to drill a hole in the center of each disc for the cord to go through.

hole for the cord

Next step was to glue and nail the discs together.

glue, spread and layernailing the discs to hold while the glue dries

We cut 2 smaller discs on the band saw measuring 3 1/2 inches across and then gave them a quick sanding. These sit on top of the larger discs. For the very top large disc, we wanted it to taper in to meet the small discs so lots of sanding was required.

sanding the bevel edge

That gave us this shape.

Tapered top layer

After the glue dried overnight a lot of sanding took place. You’ll just have to imagine this as there is no photo evidence. Trust me, lots of sanding.

Next up is wiring the lamp, thread the cord through the base and attach the parts to the top.

lamp harp

We didn’t want to have to drill through the side of the base for the cord to come out, so we just added felt pads to the bottom (which we were going to do anyways) and that raised it up enough to allow room for the cord to come out the bottom without pinching.

lamp bottom with felt pads

Here is what it looks like while standing on the table.

lamp cord

And that is how you build a plywood base for a lamp. We chose round but any shape would work, square would be nice or rectangle with a rectangle shade. It all starts with the shade.

Next up is lamp #2. This one will be glass (with a little woodworking) and was where we got the shape for this one. We will end up with two different but matching lamps with identical shades. Fun.

Until next time…

Here is a video of the building process, speed up

About Jim Barry

A Newfoundland born Canadian with a life long interest in woodworking, baking and anything else that peaks my curiosity.
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